NFL News:

• NFL officiating & rules are again in focus this morning:
  • Gene Steratore’s crew in Oakland had two national spotlight moments last night.
    • The first was the index card. Steratore said the card “reaffirmed”  the call on the field:
      • “The ball was touching the pole. I put the card in there and as soon as it touched, it was nothing more than a reaffirmation. The decision was made based on my visual from the top looking down and the ball touching the front of the pole.”
      • Jim Daopoulos, a former NFL official and former supervisor of officials, told Florio’s word salad factory that, while there’s no specific rule in place, referees have been told over the years that they are “never allowed to use anything other than their eyes to make that decision.”
    • The second was the touchback on Derek Carr’s failed touchdown dive.
      • That one made sense, if only because I had been at the last time this call happened. Plus, Carr’s had the decency to bounce into the endzone & then go out of bounds.
        • But coming after seemingly gifting Dallas the first down just feed the conspiracy theorists.
      • Deadspin had the best headline: $13 Billion Industry Uses Folded-Up Piece Of Paper To Determine Outcomes
  • Speaking of conspiracies, “what is a catch” is alive & well thanks to the Steelers inability to finish off the Pats and losing Antonio Brown in the process.
    • I think it was during one of the Saturday games when I hea the announcers debating why a running back can dive into the endzone & lose the ball during the flip but the score counts, yet a receiver has to not only stick the landing but hold onto the ball the whole way through the routine.

• Panthers owner & generally awful southern white stereotype Jerry Richardson has gotten in front of the mounting scandal & announced he will be selling the team at season’s end.
  • Sexual harassment AND racism? It’s a Weinstein plus the full Sterling.
    • The sexual harassment stuff sounds pretty weird, but sadly atypical.
    • The racism aspect has me curious. We goof on Jerry Richardson being racist a fair bit, but I want to know what “directing a slur at an African-American scout” means.
      • And you just know there’s more. As SI notes, Flagstar (the company Richardson owned prior to buying the team; Hardees & Denny’s, among others) was accused multiple times in the 90s of racist behavior, including segregating its restaurants and making black customers pre-pay for meals.
        • The Charlotte Agenda notes Richardson stepped down from Flagstar in 1995, the first year the Panthers began play. The company had faced several lawsuits alleging racial discrimination. Richardson said he wanted to devote his time to the Panthers.

• ESPN boss (& chief sports Libtard, if Twitter is to be believed) John Skipper is resigning from his position to deal with his substance abuse issues.
  • All the proof you need that it’s out of control is the $1.9 billion a year ESPN is paying through the 2021 season for the rights to Monday Night Football.
  • Since I was at Deadspin anyway, a trip through their comments found the joke I was looking for:

Finally, it seems to be the end of a couple of eras in Seattle.

First, yesterday’s obliteration at RAMMIT’s hands brought out the already-tense locker room situations. The latest bubble to burst was due to defensive teammates taking shots at each other.

• Earl Thomas made an aside about how Bobby Wagner maybe shouldn’t have played with his gimpy leg, and Wager shot back with a tweet telling Thomas, “E, keep my name out yo mouth!”
• this tweet summarizes where all the hurt comes from.

The #Seahawks 42-7 loss to LAR is their:

• Worst loss of the Pete Carroll era

• Most points allowed (tied) in a game in the Carroll era (Wk 12, 2010 vs KC)

• Worst home loss since Week 1, 1997 (41-3 L vs NYJ)

• Worst loss since Week 16, 2009 (48-10 L at GB) https://t.co/1EgFloOzgT

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) December 18, 2017

• All that’s left is for them to decide on a rebuilding strategy for the offseason.
  • Fix the defence & ignore the O-line
  • Fix the O-line & plug the defence as needed
  • Go full Patriots & rebuild constantly around a franchise QB

Secondly, the final American airline Boeing 747 flight is this week, a Tuesday Delta flight from Detroit to Seoul.

• It was supposed to have been Sunday, but the flight was cancelled / delayed to Tuesday because they didn’t have enough staff for the flight.
  • The 747 requires 4 pilots, and FAA rules mandate one flight attendant for every 50 passengers.
• The majority of the planes were built in the Seattle area because Boeing was already at capacity in its other locations due to commitments to the 707, 727 & the Apollo missions.
  • They built new assembly plants, and at its peak Boeing employed over 100,000 people in Washington state, and currently employ about 70,000.
    • Nearly 30,000 more than the 43,000 employed at Microsoft, the region’s second largest employer.

• Since the first one built in 1969, over 1500 were built in total, and 500 are still in service today.
  • The 747 will still be in use by Lufthansa, British Airways and Korean Air Lines.
• They still build or complete the 737-MAX and the 777-X in Washington state.

Game preview: Falcons at Buccaneers

This game has absolutely zero curb appeal, outside of fantasy points & minor playoff implications.

Thanks to the Packers & Seahawks losses yesterday, the only concern left for Atlanta is the Cowboys and Lions. If Atlanta wins out, or goes 2-1 at worst, they are in the playoffs, because they have already beaten Detroit, Seattle, Dallas and Green Bay this season. Realistically, there’s a chance they could catch the Panthers & Saints for the division lead and/or a higher seed, but that still means they play on Wildcard Weekend.

Right now, they are the #6 and scheduled to play the Rams. So the risk of them choking away another Super Bowl seems incredibly remote right now.

The Buccaneers have been generally awful this season. But they have figured out how to draw fans to tonight’s game:

Time is running out to get your tickets for the Jon Gruden Ring of Honor induction game. Fans will receive a Bucket Hat presented by @FrontierCorp upon entry!

🎟: https://t.co/VzuOYHTu0j pic.twitter.com/tay86ryKVD

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) December 18, 2017

Yep. And the fans’ reaction?

But, at least one fan is still taking it very seriously,

I’m just rooting for Atlanta so I don’t have to buy any Seahawks playoff tickets.

Tonight’s sports:

• NFL:
  • Falcons at Buccaneers – 8:15PM | ESPN / TSN
• NHL:
  • Blue Jackets at Bruins – 7:00PM | Sportsnet
  • Kings at Flyers – 7:00PM | NHLN
• NBA:
  • Celtics at Pacers – 7:00PM | Sportsnet1 / NBATV
  • Warriors at Lakers – 10:30PM | Sportsnet1 / NBATV
    • the Kobe’s jersey retirement game
• NCAA:
  • Men’s basketball: (of note)
    • Nebraska (Omaha) at Kansas – 7:00PM | ESPN2
    • Northern Illinois at Marquette – 7:00PM | FS1
    • Tennessee State at Texas – 9:00PM | ESPN2
• WWE:
  • Monday Night Raw – 8:00PM | USA / Sportsnet360
    • it’s one month to the Royal Rumble, so things may start taking shape.

I’d like to thank the NFL for already deciding on my playoff rooting interest. Since the Packers & Seahawks are all but out, I’m down to “ambivalence” or “anybody but the Patriots”. NOT A GOOD LOOK, ROGER!